Everything I've written here is hereby placed in the public domain. The quotes from other people's writings, and the
pictures used might or might not be copyrighted, but are considered fair use. Thus the license here would best be
described as:Primarily Public Domain.

29 Sep 2004 @ 00:38
Wow, it has been a long time since I blogged. Where to begin.

Today, one of my old housemates, John Roulac, of Nutiva stopped by to visit. He let me know:

From:Hemp Food Industry Wins 3-Year Battle
From a Times Staff Writer
The Los Angeles Times
September 28, 2004

The hemp food industry declared victory Monday in its three-year battle over the federal government's effort to ban sales and consumption of bread, protein powders and other food products made from the psychoactively benign botanical cousin of marijuana.

Federal officials declined to appeal a February ruling by the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals rejecting the Drug Enforcement Administration's attempts to block sales and consumption of hemp foods.

"It's a great legal victory," said John W. Roulac, chief executive of Nutiva, a Sebastopol, Calif., producer of hemp protein powder and nutrition bars.

Boosters say that hemp seeds and oils contain only trace amounts of tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC, the intoxicating ingredient in cannabis, but are loaded with omega-3 fatty acids and other helpful nutrients.

11 Jun 2004 @ 16:09
It has been a long time since I played around on NCN I think it was a post I got on the NCNCulture elist from a cyber friend who may be going homeless. Within a 48hr period his "Angels" intervened. I was glad to get the news.

I started looking around and through the people listing from 124 countries, making connections with the people I know either by in person contact or virtually.

With Ming in France and Julie in England, my Synchronicity Network has gone global!

"Call it serendipity, but a poem by an unknown author came to me in the mail the other day called "We Are The New Civilization." I am impressed at how it offers a new compass for human behavior, and best of all my daughter's eyes lit up when she read it herself. Maybe yours will, too?"

I followed the link to read the full article where it traces the poem to a newsletter Always in Season, by Donna Henes

The unknown author is our very own Ming Way to go Mingster, you're famous! Miss you! More >

Do you enjoy the role of being a guru?
I don’t like to think of myself that way. I don’t know about gurus. I never had a guru, so I don’t want to be anyone’s guru. I stopped doing my seminars in the ’80s for that reason. My audiences were giving away their power to me, and I couldn’t stand it. I don’t like power that much. I don’t like telling people what to do. I like to share my experience, and then I like to hear about what they want so they can find their own path. You really have to get clear in your mind, though, whether you want to be a guru or not. I made up my mind in the ’80s, and I proved it; I quit the seminars. There were too many people following me around, too many people saying I changed their lives. And I didn’t. They did. I think of it as though I’m the flint with which you can light your own fire.

Is that why you decided to do a web site?
Many people came to me and asked that I do it, since I was thought of as one of the founders of this whole spiritual movement. Although it is certainly not new. It’s been going on for maybe 7,000 years. I wanted to build a community, so I just took it slow, and step by step learned from the spiritual community about what people wanted. Now I have 17 million users.

In the Dianic tradition, on Summer Solstice we celebrate Goddess as Mother/Maker and the diverse ways we create in our lives. Through movement, trance and ritual enactment, we will work the power of fire in its many aspects and applications: Fire as the power of the will, fire as a healing power. Because of the possible intensity during this ritual, younger children's participation will be limited to daughters 11 and older.

WHAT TO BRING: *A red or orange jar candle (all candles must be in a holder) *Healthy vegetarian food and/or drink to share (absolutely no alcohol please) *Plate, cup, utensils for the feast (In honor of our Earth Mother COA will not provide paper goods) *Wear comfortable festive clothing and supportive shoes (the floor at the community house is terrible for bare feet) Optional: Decorations for our communal altar, donations for BRIGID'S WELL RSVP: (323) 650-1605 ext. 3# by Thursday, June 17th, 2004. Please leave a message including your name, phone number and the number of women you plan to bring. Let us know if you or your guests are newcomers, and if you or your guests will be bringing girls under 17. Womyn born womyn only. Please do not call COA the weekend of the ritual, as we are extremely busy preparing and will not be able to process your call.

FOR NEWCOMERS: Newcomers are warmly welcomed! We want your experience to be optimal so we have created these guidelines in your interest. Women new to Goddess spirituality must be advised that the ritual is a participatory religious service and is not structured to be an introduction to the Goddess of to Feminist Witchcraft. The following books are suggested reading before attending a public ritual: The Spiral Dance by Starhawk , The Holy Book of Women's Mysteries by Z Budapest , Ariandne's Thread by Shekhinah Mountainwater, 'Invocation to Free Women' (audiocassette) by Ruth Barrett and Felicity Flowers. These are available at the COA Store or your local book store. If you are planning on bringing newcomers to the ritual, please be responsible to them and COA by preparing your guests in advance. Give your guests a general idea of what to expect so that they can participate in benefit of themselves and all women present.

RITUAL LOCATION: The Topanga Community House,Please RSVP before Thursday to COA, 323/650-1605 extension 3. Leave a message including your name, telephone number, and how many women you plan to bring. This is a participatory ritual is for serious seekers only. Once the circle is cast we cannot admit latecomers, so please arrive on time, Doors open at 6:30pm and will be locked at 7 pm. Carpool if possible.

21 May 2004 @ 15:15
Today I am working with Nick to see about putting up a blog for the school. This is pretty exciting because people from around the world have come to take classes and will be able to find out what is happening here, classes, workshops, etc.

Rumi is one of the cats that rule the school. Notice the ease and relaxed state from her latest massage.

6 Mar 2004 @ 11:50
Take a look at Lyena Strelkoff's updated website. This is snipped from the intro:

My name is Lyena Strelkoff and I’m an actor, dancer, writer, performance artist, and teacher. In October 2002, a fall in the Malibu hills left me paralyzed from the waist down. Statistically speaking, I’m not expected to walk again. But with the support of friends and family, I’m inviting a better outcome, one where my body is fully restored, reveling in motion and the most precious touch.

My friends and I created this web site to share news about my injury and the progress I make toward recovery. You’ll find links to general information about spinal cord injury, as well as details of my personal experience.

Lyena is an inspiration to me in the way she contiues to share deeply with others her very personal experiences of life.

6 Mar 2004 @ 09:55
In January I attended a Reunion of the Intersection. I began folk dancing in 1970 while staying with my sister, Carolina, one summer in Los Angeles. What an amazing night the reunion was! I got to see many of my old friends and connect with people I use to perform with as the Intersection Dancers, Panegri, Gypsy Camp and an brief stint in an Arabic Folk group. I was amazed at the love so present in the music, in the connections and in the dance.

At one point in the evening a haspiko came on. All of our old dance teachers got up and formed a line to dance together once again. It was beautiful to see! As in any small village (300 of us total), we arranged ourselves in a spiral, circling around these elders. At the front of the line were those of us they taught and performed with. Looking around the circle I sensed a feeling of community that is unique to this group of people.

I am delighted to know the energy of the night shifted many of us and the dance, like our connections continue.....

SACRAMENTO - Californians like to think of their state as a freewheeling, tolerant place, one that entered the Union back in 1850 unbesmirched by the stain of slavery.

But Joe Moore says there's just one problem with that sunny vision of the past - it isn't true. Though it was admitted to the Union as a ``free state,'' slavery still existed in 1850s California, and Moore is leading a project to shed light on its contradictory history.

His proof is in print: in an 1852 ad announcing the public auction of a black man valued at $300; newspaper accounts of fugitive slaves who were arrested; and, county records certifying slaves bought their freedom from their owners.

Moore and a team of researchers have uncovered these and other, often overlooked pieces of California's past after months of digging through the archives of museums, historical societies and libraries across the state. More >

"In chaos theory, the edge is the meeting point between order and chaos, between the known and the unknown. In nature it is where creativity and self-organizing happen. It is where new information is created."